Brockton filmmaker wins award for documentary

Noube Rateau's 'The Culture' received the Henry Hampton Award for Documentary Filmmaking at the Roxbury International Film Festival.

Staff Reporter

BROCKTON – The fourth time was the charm for Noube Rateau at the Roxbury International Film Festival.

Rateau, a 2006 Brockton High School graduate, runs his own production company, is Mayor Bill Carpenter’s director of communications and is a former Brockton Community Access producer.

On Thursday, his documentary “The Culture,” a film exploring the reasons behind gun violence, received the Henry Hampton Award for Documentary Filmmaking.

“I’m fired up,” Rateau said.

This year was the fourth time Rateau had submitted a documentary to the festival. The first time, in 2011, Rateau said he submitted a film about relationships and was blown away by the work of Boston-area filmmaker Rudy Hypolite, who won the Hampton award that year.

“It was like, ‘OK, I got work to do,’” Rateau said.

Hypolite became a mentor to Rateau and the graduate of communications at Bridgewater State University kept making documentaries, including “Silence,” an award-winning documentary about drug addiction.

His latest film “The Culture” was shown during the 16th annual Roxbury International Film Festival, held June 25-29 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

The award Rateau won is named after the award-winning filmmaker Henry Hampton, who produced such films as “Eyes on The Prize” and “I’ll Make Me A World.”

“It was kind of like full circle,” Rateau said of winning the award his mentor took four years ago.

“The Culture” was made through Rateau’s production company, Noube Productions, which has no affiliation with the mayor’s office. Rateau worked on the project with co-producer William Medero and graphic designer Hakim Hill.

Rateau said the idea for the film was borne from the tragic shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, on Dec. 14, 2012.

“When I heard about the shooting that happened, I was automatically outraged,” he said. “But then, I asked, ‘Why am I outraged?’”

The film has been accepted into the Action on Film International Film Festival in Pasadena, California, next month and the St. Louis Black Film Festival in September. Rateau has also submitted it to festivals in New York City and Atlanta.

Up next for Noube Productions will likely be a sports documentary, perhaps exploring why athletes seem prone to trouble, Rateau said.

Whatever subject he picks, Rateau said he will stick to his company slogan, “Give a Voice to the Voiceless.”

Dafney Tales contributed to this report. Joseph Markman may be reached at jmarkman@enterprisenews.com.